I agree with Susan Bordo's view that we live in an empire of images with no protective borders. Images are constantly thrust in front of our eyes, whether they be advertisements, tv shows, or a random person's personal views. A lot of the time one can pass by an image and not realize they're taking it in, and therefore cannot guard themselves against it. For example, you could be driving down a road and pass numerous billboards advertising Taco Bell, and by the fifth advert you start to crave Taco Bell. Or say you hear the same song numerous times on the radio within a short period of time, chances are you'll have that tune stuck in your head.
An interesting point Bordo brought up in her essay, "The Empire of Images in Our World of Bodies," was the association of certain things to a specific sex. I've often questioned the boys = blue girls = pink debate, but I've never thought about it in terms of Happy Meal toys or boys exclusively liking gritty things and girls exclusively liking shiny things. I've always accepted that girls tend to play with dolls (though I played with both dolls and cars, etc) and boys play with magnifying glasses and ants; and I've never questioned why. I think I've always thought like that because that's what I've always seen, that is what's always being portrayed--little boys have always played with the toy soldiers on tv, and the girls always with their dolls. Or boys will play war and girls will play house.
When trying to think of a community in which images wouldn't penetrate as deeply the Amish community came to mind. But, if you think about it, even they are modeling themselves based off an image (although it's not the same image the majority of America/the western world model themselves after).
Really, even the blind are not protected from the Empire of Images Bordo speaks of. They constantly hear the audio connected to the images and the people around them discussing what the images are of.
The power of images and how they shape and reshape people (without their control or even knowing it) is distressing, but what would society be like without them?
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2 comments:
I thought Little Miss Sunshine was a good movie but thought it was absolutely disgusting how the mothers plays dress up with her kid. I agree, the image of a mother is supposed to be someone with unconditional love for their child, someone who has you back and supports who you are because they love you. Their you mother,right?
I wonder what this world would be like today without the history of boy=blue and girls=pink. What if it was girls=green and boys=red? Or what if there was no such thing as I guess sexual profiling at all? Weird. I its kind of nice to have these guidelines to fallow in a sense because some of society need it.....but wouldn't it be crazy if there was nothing there at all?
Although I am far from an expert on the Amish, even they cannot escape such images. Once they are a certain age they are allowed to go and explore the “outside” world. I know that some join the military, and others go about doing things that vary as much as what all other people on earth do. I suspect that they do get out and see things before and after that point as well. I also wonder what they must tell their children to raise them as they do. How do you tell a child something is bad without explaining what that something is? So although they are quite protective, they can’t keep everything out.
On the other hand, maybe I just don’t know enough about them. Maybe they do keep many things out, but they still have the male and female roles, and I don’t imagine that they ever switch.
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